PHIL NEVILLE'S hopes of playing at the World Cup finals have been given a boost after he received a surprise call-up to the England standby list last night.

A back injury to Nigel Reo-Coker forced the West Ham United captain to withdraw from the squad yesterday and prompted Eriksson to call for the versatile Neville.

The Everton midfielder had been facing up to the prospect of missing out on a third consecutive finals, having missed the cut at the last minute in 1998 and 2002.

But Neville will report to England's Hertfordshire training retreat today knowing that further injuries to Sven Goran Eriksson's 23-man squad could open the door for him to travel to Germany.

Since making his debut against China in 1996, Neville has been capped 52 times by England but his international career has stagnated in the past 12 months.

The 29-year-old's most recent appearance for his country came during a 3-2 win against Colombia on May 31 last year and things looked bleak for him when Eriksson axed Neville for the friendly with Uruguay in March.

Neville, one of Everton's most consistent performers following his #3.5m move from Manchester United, had been coming to terms with missing out but is keeping his fingers crossed it might prove to be third time lucky.

"Everyone knows I'm desperate to go to this one," Neville said recently. "I've missed out on two right at the last stage. If I make the World Cup squad after such an enjoyable season, it will cap everything off. If it doesn't happen, it won't be for the want of trying."